How Sports Teams Can Use Texting to Increase Ticket Sales and Drive Fan Engagement

Ticket offices and customer service departments for sport teams are always looking for the best way to engage with fans. Many have discovered the ease and effectiveness of using texting in their daily operations. When they turn their landline, VoIP or toll-free number into a business texting line, fans can instantly contact them via text message.

Increase Ticket Sales and Season Pass Renewals

Let’s face it: more people prefer texting than calling. Why not offer the option for fans to communicate via their preferred channel? People are busy and want to purchase tickets quickly and easily. Offering the option to text rather than call invites far more ticket inquiries and renewals because fans don’t have to waste time or jump through hoops to do so.

Texting software can also help you set up scheduled texts like reminders for season ticket holders. You can easily notify your past season ticket holders of new season availability, without ever having to make a call. Within your scheduled texts you have the ability to use Personalized Templates, which automatically pull in information about your customers like their first name. Personalizing your messages makes them feel less like a sales pitch and more like a real human-to-human interaction.

Approximately 24 hours after setup, Mike Fisher, Director of Tickets and HC Memberships at the Worcester Railers HC, saw more than $1,000 in revenue as a direct result of implementing text messaging with Zipwhip.

“It’s possibly the easiest thing I have ever used,” he said. “There’s not much training needed and it’s very user friendly.”

In another instance, the Fort Wayne Komets sold two season ticket plans (valued at roughly $1,500) within the first hour of using Zipwhip. These are just two examples of many where texting delivered concrete ROI almost immediately.

Texting is clearly valuable for sports teams. That’s why we work with more than 145 professional sports teams such as the Seattle Seahawks, the Sacramento Kings, University of Washington Huskies and more.

Improve the Fan Experience

Fans of teams that have added text messaging have a much easier way to provide feedback to the ticket office about the customer experience. This helps sports departments continue to improve and innovate. Opening up better ways for fans to provide feedback helps customers feel important and heard and welcoming this kind of communication further improves brand loyalty and overall satisfaction.

Additionally, it makes it much easier for customers to reach support. When dealing with thousands and thousands of fans, offering a personalized support channel can often be a challenge for sports organizations. Most don’t have the capacity to handle that number of inquiries. However, texting automation tools like scheduled reminders, customized templates and keyword-triggered auto-replies can cut down on hours spent playing phone tag and reduce call volume dramatically.

Boost Fan Engagement During Games

What better time to enhance the fan experience than during the actual game? While many sports teams already engage live through social media, doing things such as tweeting photos with a specific hashtag, many have yet to realize the potential of text messaging. Since TCPA requires companies to acquire consent from recipients, you must do so prior to texting their numbers. We highly recommend putting a message on social media or the screen during the game encouraging people to sign up for text updates by texting “subscribe” to your business phone number.

Finally, it’s a great opportunity for stadiums and teams to ask fans to “text or call” to report any suspicious activity or unsafe situations around them. It gives a safe and anonymous way for fans to give that feedback during the game.

Perhaps the best example of how sports teams will continue to use texting to enhance the fan experience is the Sacramento Kings. The team recently launched their RCS texting experience to engage fans and increase ticket sales. RCS messaging is on the cutting edge of communication technology, and experts believe it will take off rapidly within the next few years. With a growing roster of professional and collegiate sports organizations adopting innovative texting technology, it’s clear this trend will soon be integral to the fan experience.

Madeleine Wilson is the content marketing manager for Zipwhip. Her experience in brand strategy, strong writing skills, and eye for design help drive traffic to the Zipwhip website. She loves telling the stories of how Zipwhip impacts businesses and consumers.